PTO Calculator

How to use this calculator

Three tabs cover the main PTO questions employees typically face. Choose the one that fits your question.

Tab 1 – PTO Balance: Enter your total PTO days or hours earned per year, how much you have already used, and any days you carried over from last year. The calculator returns your current remaining balance in both days and hours, plus a projection of how much you will have at year end if you use no more.

Tab 2 – Accrual Rate: Select your pay period frequency and enter your annual PTO entitlement. The calculator shows how much PTO you earn each pay period and projects your running balance week by week or period by period through the rest of the year.

Tab 3 – PTO Value: Enter your hourly rate (or annual salary, and the calculator converts it), along with how many PTO hours you have remaining. The output is the dollar value of your unused time, which matters when evaluating whether to take days off, negotiate a payout, or compare job offers.

What PTO actually is

Paid time off is a benefit that gives employees permission to be absent from work while still receiving full pay. Unlike older systems that split leave into separate buckets for vacation, sick days, and personal days, most modern PTO policies consolidate everything into a single balance. You decide how to use it.

The mechanics vary significantly by employer. Some companies give you your full annual allotment on day one of each year, a model called front-loading. Others let it accrue gradually throughout the year, so you earn a small fraction of your annual allotment with each pay period. A third model uses a tiered tenure system where the accrual rate increases after one year, three years, five years, and so on.

This sounds simple, but the “earned so far” figure depends on your accrual model. In a front-loaded system, you get the full year’s allocation immediately. In an accrual system, you need to know how many pay periods have passed and your per-period rate.

Accrual rate calculation

If your employer uses an accrual system, you earn a fixed number of hours per pay period.

Pay period frequencies and their annual counts:

Some employers accrue based on hours worked rather than elapsed time. If you work 2,080 hours in a full year (52 weeks × 40 hours), and you get 10 days, your accrual rate is 80 hours / 2,080 hours worked = 0.03846 hours of PTO per hour worked.

The cash value of your unused PTO

PTO has a real dollar value that is often overlooked when comparing job offers or deciding whether to take days off before year end.

This figure matters in several practical situations:

Year-end PTO decisions: If your employer has a use-it-or-lose-it policy, unused PTO at year end simply disappears. Taking four days off before December 31 when your hourly rate is $35/hr is the equivalent of cashing in $1,120. If you have no urgent work, the math often favors taking those days.

Job offer comparisons: A new job offering $5,000 more in salary but 5 fewer PTO days is not obviously a better deal. At $40/hr, 5 days is worth $1,600. The net advantage is $3,400, not $5,000.

Termination payouts: Many states require employers to pay out accrued unused PTO when employment ends. Knowing your balance and its dollar value helps you verify your final paycheck is correct.

PTO vs vacation vs sick leave

Older employment structures divided time off into separate categories. Many companies still use this model. Here is how the components typically work:

Vacation leave is scheduled time off for rest and travel. In traditional systems, it does not apply to unplanned absences.

Sick leave covers illness, injury, and sometimes medical appointments for you or a family member. Some states mandate a minimum number of paid sick days regardless of employer policy.

Personal days are flexible days used for anything not covered by vacation or sick leave. Errands, mental health days, appointments, or family events.

PTO consolidates all three into one bucket. You decide how to allocate it. The advantage is flexibility. The risk is that employees sometimes exhaust PTO early in the year when sick and have nothing left for vacation. With traditional systems, sick days and vacation are separate pools, so a bad flu season does not cancel your summer plans.

Neither system is objectively better. It depends on your personal situation and how your employer handles the details.

Carryover and use-it-or-lose-it policies

Employers handle unused PTO at year end in a few different ways, and the policy has a significant effect on how you should manage your balance.

Use-it-or-lose-it: Unused PTO expires at year end (or at the end of your “anniversary year” if the policy resets on your hire date). This is common in the United States. About half of private sector employers use this approach.

Carryover with a cap: You can roll over unused PTO into the next year, but only up to a maximum. A common cap is 40 hours (one week). Anything above that is forfeited.

Unlimited carryover: Unused PTO rolls forward indefinitely. This sounds generous but can create issues, as employers sometimes deal with the accumulated liability by pushing employees to use the time.

Unlimited PTO: Some tech companies offer unlimited PTO, where there is no formal accrual and no formal balance. Research suggests that employees at unlimited PTO companies take fewer days off on average, not more, because there is no number to track and social pressure to be available tends to win.

State law matters here. California, Colorado, and a handful of other states treat accrued PTO as earned wages and prohibit forfeiture policies. If you live in one of those states, your employer cannot legally impose a use-it-or-lose-it rule on accrued balances.

Standard PTO amounts by seniority

How much PTO is typical? It varies by industry, company size, and tenure, but the following table shows common ranges in the United States private sector.

Government and education sectors tend to offer significantly more generous leave. Many European countries mandate a minimum of 20 paid vacation days by law, separate from paid holidays, which puts US averages well below international norms.

When comparing job offers, count both PTO and paid holidays. A company offering 15 PTO days plus 12 paid holidays gives you 27 days of paid leave. A company offering 20 PTO days plus 6 paid holidays gives you 26 days. The first package may look inferior but is actually comparable.

FMLA and how it interacts with PTO

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for specific qualifying reasons: serious health conditions, bonding with a new child, or caring for a family member with a serious condition.

FMLA leave is unpaid by default. However, employers may require, and employees may elect, to substitute accrued PTO for FMLA leave. This means your PTO balance could run down even during protected medical leave. You keep the job protection of FMLA but receive pay from your PTO balance rather than from some separate benefit.

If you are planning an extended medical leave, understanding your PTO balance (Tab 1) and its cash value (Tab 3) lets you plan how long you can sustain your income before switching to unpaid status or applying for short-term disability if your employer offers it.

How PTO accrual systems work in practice

Employers use several different PTO accrual structures, and the one your employer uses affects how the Accrual Rate tab should be configured.

Annual lump sum (front-loaded). Some employers give you all your PTO at the start of the year or on your work anniversary. You have full access immediately. There’s nothing to accrue. If you leave mid-year having used more PTO than you’ve “earned” on a pro-rata basis, some employers will claw back the difference. Read your offer letter or handbook carefully.

Per-pay-period accrual. The most common structure for hourly and non-exempt employees. You earn a fixed number of hours each paycheck. For biweekly pay with 15 days PTO per year: 120 hours / 26 pay periods = 4.615 hours per paycheck. The Accrual Rate tab calculates this for any combination.

Hours-based accrual. Some employers tie PTO to hours worked rather than pay periods. A common structure is 1 hour of PTO for every 30 or 40 hours worked. This automatically scales with part-time versus full-time status.

Tenure-based increases. Many employers increase PTO accrual after 1, 3, or 5 years of service. A new employee might earn 10 days per year; a 5-year employee earns 15; a 10-year employee earns 20. If you’re approaching a tenure milestone, factor the upcoming increase into your planning.

Use-it-or-lose-it vs. rollover. Some states prohibit use-it-or-lose-it PTO policies (California, Montana, Nebraska among them), treating earned PTO as wages that must either be carried over or paid out. Other states allow employers to cap or forfeit unused PTO at year-end. Know your state’s rules and your employer’s policy before December.

Maximizing PTO value: timing and payout strategies

PTO has a dollar value. The PTO Value tab calculates what your unused balance is worth at your hourly rate. That number matters for several reasons.

Job transitions. When you leave a job, you may be entitled to a payout of unused PTO depending on your state and employer policy. In states like California, Colorado, Illinois, and others, earned PTO is treated as wages and must be paid out at termination. Know your balance and your state’s rules before you give notice.

Strategic usage timing. Using PTO when you’d otherwise be unproductive (low-activity periods, the week between Christmas and New Year, times your team is largely out) costs you less in terms of work output than using it during high-demand periods. If PTO doesn’t roll over, using it strategically before year-end avoids forfeiture.

Illness and PTO. If your company combines vacation and sick time into a single PTO bank, you’re essentially self-insuring for illness with that balance. A reasonable buffer of 3-5 days for unexpected illness before drawing down your “vacation” balance is worth keeping in mind when planning time off.

Negotiating PTO in a new role. PTO is often negotiable even when salary isn’t. If you’re leaving accrued PTO on the table at your current job because you can’t get a payout, factoring that loss into your salary negotiation at the new role is reasonable. A new employer offering 10 days of PTO when you’re leaving 15 days at your current job represents real compensation that belongs in the total offer calculation.